we went to seattle, we went to disneyland, which was most important. we traveled to kansas where my grandmother's family was from. we went to chicago and yellowstone. we took greyhound buses. we stayed at local motels or howard johnson's. and if there was a pool, i would be very excited. the vending machine that i was excited about. this was a time when you did not have 24 hours worth of cartoons. it was what my parents decided to watch. my mother would turn on the tv every night. i can say that i understood everything that was brought to me. but i knew the issues were important. thinking about what we would be as americans. during the course of this ship that lasted about a month, some of this got into my head. the person that fascinated me most was this man of japanese descent with one arm speaking in baritone, full of dignity and grace. maybe he captivated my attention because my mom explain to this was the center. -- was our senator. he was a upholding what our government was all about. maybe it was a boyhood fascination with the story of how he lo